do you love me?
by linh cinder
Summary: It's a shame, really, that he has to ask. {or that really short oneshot where Piper and Leo get back their memories from the Wilderness School, and they're still having doubts. pre-written God knows when; obvious Liper; not an AU for once}.


**Title:**_ do you love me?_

**Summary:**_ It's a shame, really, that he has to ask. {or that oneshot where Piper and Leo get their memories from before the Wilderness School, and they're still not happy}._

**Words:**_ 831_

**A/N:**_ Please enjoy a sad and [extremely] short oneshot while I cough up some mucus (allergies suck).  
_

_(written on the topic, "Let's pretend that Caleo doesn't exist and that Liper gets their memories back, hm?")_

_and um SORRY ABOUT JASON I LOVE HIM DON'T KILL ME HAHAHA /cries_

* * *

...

"if you love me, let me know

if you don't, let me go."

_\- someone "not pretty enough"_

...

* * *

"Do you love me?"

They came to a halt on the path to the mess hall, with her stopping before him. She looked at him with incredulous eyes; his question took her by surprise. Leo was upset, and she knew that, but he didn't care. He slid his hand from hers, and he stuffed it back into the pocket of his jacket as she blinked at him in confusion.

Piper frowned a perfect frown, breathing a ghost into the chilly air. Her eyebrows furrowed under wispy brown bangs that stuck out of a woolly hat.

"What? Of course I do."

Leo shook his head, shifting his weight from foot to foot. "No, I mean _really _love me. Like, as in you _love me,_ love me. Like how you loved Jason."

Frustration flashed in Piper's multicolored eyes, and he thought to himself as he bit his bottom lip, _maybe I shouldn't have said that._

Piper groaned, rolling her eyes. "Leo, do you _seriously_ want to have this conversation _again - "_

"What? You never gave me the chance to finish the last one. Why do you keep avoiding the subject?"

"Why do you keep bringing it_ up?"_

"Because I want to_ know,"_ he exhaled, his frosted breath rising and dissipating in the chilly, winter air. He took a few steps back until his spine was flat and leaning against the dark wood of the Hermes Cabin wall. The two of them were illuminated in the glow of the plain, multicolored Christmas lights that hung low on the roof, and freshly fallen snow powdered the ground, forcing him to bundle up (despite his inner hotness) and her to throw on layers after layers of clothes, her cheeks rosy from the cold and her nose red like Rudolph's.

"Do you _really_ love me?" he asked again with a raised eyebrow and a raised voice. "You can't say that you do, can you? We've been dating for less than a month, and we haven't done so much as hold hands. You barely even look me in the _eye. _ You don't _love_ me, Piper. You can't - "

"I _did," _she interrupted, and the frustration in her eyes was joined by anger. Piper balled her fists, and the spark of a flame threatened to dance across his fingertips. "Why in Hades do you think I'm with you _now? _ We wouldn't be here if I didn't remember."

Leo gives a clipped, bitter laugh. "You'd be _happier,_ then?"

Her eyes snapped to him in a glare. _"No._ I'd just be more _confused."_

His eyebrows furrowed. "Confused?"

"About the _truth,"_ Piper admitted, crossing her arms with a troubled gaze. Her kaleidoscope eyes fell down to the snow at her feet. A lump crept into Leo's throat, and he tried to swallow it down, but failed with every nervous gulp he took.

Piper continued on as the shouts of happy campers heading to the mess hall filled the air. "I don't know why Hera took so long to give us back our memories, Leo. I still can't understand why she waited until all of this happened, until...until _after _Jason - " she choked up. Guilt bubbled in Leo's chest as he quickly looked away.

He knew the rest.

_After Jason died._

"...and I'm _still_ upset about it." Piper continued on, the frustration still in her eyes. "But one thing I _do_ know is that I _did_ love you."

Their gazes clashed. Piper looked so pretty, with her rosy-red cheeks and her twinkling, shining eyes. She reached out with a gloved hand and took his reluctant hand in hers, stifling the astonished flame as she weaved her fingers through his.

"...And I know that, even after all of this mess, I'm willing to try again."

A fire burned in his cheeks. Leo blushed, and was a little confused as to why her eyes suddenly widened at him.

Piper's voice rose in alarm. "Leo, your hair's on fire."

Leo blushed harder, embarrassed. "Sorry."

He patted it out. Piper shook her head with a roll of her eyes and a chuckle, and he inwardly gawked again at how insanely pretty she was. How could have he not noticed it before?

Aphrodite was probably watching, because he found himself leaning down and planting a kiss on a still-laughing Piper's rosy-red cheek.

She blushed, and he did, too, abashed and confused as to why in Hades he just did that.

Leo tried to stammer out an answer as Piper's hand flew to her cheek. "I, um - sorry...I didn't mean to - "

He was entirely surprised when Piper grabbed his collar and pulled him into a kiss.

Leo wrapped his arms around her waist as Piper wrapped hers around his neck. On cue, his hair ignited again, sending wisps of smoke up into the frosted air. Whatever doubts he had come here with, he was pretty sure that they were forgotten by now, like the flickering cinders floating up into the sky above them.

* * *

...

"i love you not only [for] who you are

but for who I am when I am with you

and words can not express

how much I love you

and care about you"

...

* * *

** \- end -**


End file.
